Two good meals today - both restaurants we'd visit again. Unfortunately, neither meal photographed well - aluminum foil, paper wrappers, and messy foods.

Lunch: We tried Maria's Taco X-Press (2529 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 444-0261‎) for lunch.

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What I Ate: August 19, 2009 (Maria's Taco X-Press, Elevation Burger)

Dinner: Tina and I had been craving ramen since yesterday, so we went to try Banzai (3914 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 323-2151‎) which has ramen on their menu. Now, when I say ramen, I don't mean that dried stuff in a cup (instant noodles). I mean the yellow wheat flour noodles that are slightly firm, slightly chewy, and slightly alkaline that has been prepared in a rich flavorful broth (usually pork and chicken based). Ramen was one of those foods that I made sure I had when I went to Japan (once in Osaka, once in Kyoto, once in Tokyo, and once in Yamamoto) and also had fairly often while living in California (my favorites were the shoyu ramen at Ringerhut and the ultra-rich ramen at Ramen Hulu). As far as we could tell, there's no ramen-ya in Austin, so we started looking around for Japanese restaurants that had ramen on their menu. So far, we've only found Banzai, but Peter Tsai has informed me that his friends recommend Kyoto which we'll have to try in the future.

Banzai is counter service - you order at the counter, pay, then take a seat and food is brought to you. I started the meal with an order of seaweed salad ($5).

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What I Ate: August 18, 2009 (Banzai)

Lunch: Leftover Papa Murphy's pizza heated in a countertop convection oven until the crust was crispy again. (Just noticed there's no sales tax on a Papa Murphy's pizza - I think it's because they don't cook it for you.)

Dinner: We wanted ramen, but couldn't find a place in Austin for it. Ended up heating up the noodles from last night's Chinese food and augmented with some roast chicken and kale. Tina had the remaining manicotti.

Lunch: Tina and I headed to a Steak 'n Shake because Marc Summers said it was the best thing he ever ate between two slices of bread. I got a Double Steakburger with fries and enjoyed it. For a thin patty burger, this is my favorite since coming to Texas. It was somewhat similar to In-N-Out (as opposed to the Whataburgers and Sonic burgers). Next time, I'll have to see if I can make some special sauce and slather it on.

Tina had three shooters which were poorly constructed but very tasty. The Chipotle sauce was our favorite.

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What I Ate: August 16, 2009 (Steak 'n Shake, Hays City Donuts)

Lunch: I made a couple of Turkey and Swiss sandwiches (with kale sandwiched in the middle)

Dinner: While coming back from visiting our home site, I swung by Papa Murphy's and picked up a family sized half Papa's Favorite Pizza (pepperoni, Italian sausage, ground beef, fresh mushrooms, mixed onions, green peppers and black olives) and half Gourmet Chicken Garlic Pizza (grilled chicken, roma tomatoes, green onions and herb & cheese blend), baked it, and enjoyed it while watching this week's America's Got Talent with Tina. (Strangely, I watch the results show first to take the suspense out of it and then watch the performances knowing if they did well or not.)

Lunch: A couple of Coyote Creek Farms pastured chicken eggs cooked over easy and served atop wilted arugula.

Dinner: Chinese stewed beef with bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms with white rice and sauteed kale.

Dinner: I cooked a ribeye steak and served it with mustard greens and homemade tortilla chips.

Lunch: Leftover pasta

Dinner: I was invited to a food blogger event at Gumbo's restaurant (710 Colorado St # 100, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 480-8053‎). The food was pretty good today with the Redfish Francine my favorite. I'll have to go back and give them another try in the future. (We had eaten here last April and had mixed feelings. Tina's fish was poorly prepared and she had to order a replacement dish. I didn't feel like the gumbos they served tasted like what I was expecting - an authentic New Orleans style gumbo. Tonight's food was much better prepared, so I think it'll be worth trying again.)

Crab Cake served with chiptole aioli and jicama slaw

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What I Ate: August 12, 2009 (Gumbo's)

Lunch: I cooked troffiette with Bistro Sensations Habanero with Monterey Jack Cheese Chicken Sausage, wilted arugula, cherry tomatoes, and freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano.

Dinner: I was intending to bake a manicotti dish that I had prepared earlier, but my friend Alex as in town for business and gave me a call. I joined him and Kelly (a coworker of mine from the Intel days) for BBQ at The County Line. I had Baby Back Ribs with cole slaw and mashed potatoes. I really didn't like my sides and asked for a corn on the cob instead. The corn was really water-logged. The ribs were heavily sauced (which is odd for barbecue in Texas) and dry and chewy.

Lunch: Ever since I had the turkey and swiss sandwich a couple days ago, I've wanted another one. So, I made another one for lunch and ate a salad of baby lettuce with it.

Dinner: Leftover Chinese food tonight.